هذه مطرقة.

A careful MSA pronunciation is:

hādhihi miṭraqatun

If you add full vowels/diacritics, it is:

هٰذِهِ مِطْرَقَةٌ

A few pronunciation notes:

• هٰذِهِ = hādhihi
  
  • dh here is the sound of th in this
• مِطْرَقَةٌ = miṭraqatun
  
  • ṭ is an emphatic t
  • the final -tun is often not pronounced in pause, so at the end of a sentence you will often hear miṭraqa

So in normal pause, many learners can say:

hādhihi miṭraqa

Word by word:

• هذه = this (used with feminine nouns)
• مطرقة = hammer

So the whole sentence means:

This is a hammer.

Literally, Arabic is closer to:

This hammer.

But in English we naturally translate it as This is a hammer.

Because مطرقة is a grammatically feminine noun.

In MSA Arabic, demonstratives must match the gender of the noun:

• هذا = this for masculine
• هذه = this for feminine

Since مطرقة is feminine, Arabic uses:

هذه مطرقة

not

هذا مطرقة

Because Arabic grammatical gender is not the same thing as biological sex.

Many inanimate nouns in Arabic are grammatically either masculine or feminine. مطرقة is feminine because it has the common feminine ending:

• ة = taa marbuuTa

This ending often marks feminine nouns.

So مطرقة is grammatically feminine even though a hammer is just an object.

Not in the present tense.

Arabic often leaves out the verb to be in simple present-tense sentences. So:

• هذه مطرقة literally: This a hammer
• natural English: This is a hammer

This kind of sentence is very common in Arabic.

If you wanted past or future, Arabic would use other forms, but in the present tense the is/am/are is usually omitted.

Arabic does not have a separate word for a/an.

Instead, indefiniteness is usually shown by the noun being:

• without ال (al-, the definite article the)
• often with tanween in fully vocalized Arabic

So:

• مطرقة = a hammer
• المطرقة = the hammer

That is why مطرقة here is understood as a hammer.

This is a very important question.

• هذه مطرقة = This is a hammer.
• هذه المطرقة = This hammer / This is the hammer. depending on context

Why?

In standard Arabic, when a demonstrative like هذه is followed by an indefinite noun, it often forms a full sentence:

• هذه مطرقة = This is a hammer

But when the noun is definite with ال, the phrase becomes a noun phrase:

• هذه المطرقة = this hammer

So the presence or absence of ال changes the structure and meaning.

It is a nominal sentence.

Arabic has two major basic sentence types:

• verbal sentences: start with a verb
• nominal sentences: start with a noun/pronoun/demonstrative-like element

Here, the sentence starts with هذه, so it is a nominal sentence.

A simple way to analyze it is:

• هذه = the topic / subject-like part
• مطرقة = the predicate / information about it

So the structure is essentially:

This — a hammer.

That corresponds to English:

This is a hammer.

Usually yes, but specifically for feminine singular nouns.

The basic singular demonstratives are:

• هذا = this for masculine singular
• هذه = this for feminine singular

So هذه does not work for every noun. It must agree with a feminine singular noun.

In fully vocalized formal Arabic, yes.

The complete nominative indefinite form is:

مِطْرَقَةٌ = miṭraqatun

The final -un is called tanween and marks an indefinite nominative noun.

However:

• Arabic is often written without short vowels
• at the end of a sentence, speakers often pause and do not pronounce the final -un

So in real reading aloud at pause, you may hear:

hādhihi miṭraqa

But in grammar, the full form is:

هٰذِهِ مِطْرَقَةٌ

Because Arabic is expressing a sentence of identification, not a noun phrase.

Compare:

• هذه مطرقة = This is a hammer
  
  • full sentence
  • مطرقة is indefinite

versus

• هذه المطرقة = this hammer
  
  • noun phrase
  • المطرقة is definite

So Arabic uses the indefinite noun after the demonstrative when it means This is a ...

In many spoken dialects, yes. But in Modern Standard Arabic, use:

هذه

Forms like هذي are common in colloquial Arabic, but they are not the standard MSA form you should use in formal writing and careful standard speech.

The main difficulty is the letter ذ.

It is pronounced like the th in this, not like z and not like the th in thin.

So:

• ذ = voiced th as in this
• ث = voiceless th as in thin

That makes هذه sound roughly like:

ha-dhi-hi

not:

• hazihi
• hathehi
• hadihi

Because the sentence is centered on this.

Arabic is presenting the object by pointing to it:

هذه = This مطرقة = a hammer

So the flow is:

This is a hammer.

If you changed the structure, the meaning or emphasis would change. In standard beginner Arabic, هذه مطرقة is the normal way to say This is a hammer.

Use a masculine noun and the masculine demonstrative هذا.

For example:

• هذا كتاب = This is a book.
• هذه مطرقة = This is a hammer.

So the pattern is:

• هذا + masculine noun
• هذه + feminine noun

It is the final ة:

مطرقة

This letter is called taa marbuuTa. It often marks feminine nouns.

In pausal pronunciation, it usually sounds like -a:

• miṭraqa

But in connected speech or with case endings, it behaves like a t sound:

• miṭraqatun

That is why the transliteration often shows a t in the full form even though learners may hear miṭraqa at the end of the sentence.

Context and definiteness help.

Here, هذه مطرقة is understood as a complete sentence because:

• هذه is a demonstrative
• مطرقة is indefinite
• together they naturally form an identification statement

So a learner should recognize:

• هذه مطرقة = sentence: This is a hammer
• هذه المطرقة = phrase: this hammer

That distinction is one of the key patterns in basic Arabic.